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Sell the spreadsheet your industry rebuilds every week

Every industry has a calculation people redo from scratch — a quote, a yield, a dose, a load, a margin. You build the good version once, with the assumptions documented, and sell it as a download. It's the lowest-cost way to test whether people will pay you for what you know.

Startup cost

Under $100 — a checkout link and a landing page (Under $100 to start)

Who pays

Professionals who do the same calculation constantly

How it earns

One-off purchase, occasionally an annual updated edition

Tech skill needed

No coding needed

Role of AI

No AI involved

Business model

Digital product

Run it solo?

Yes, realistically

Online or local

Online

Time it takes

Under 5 hours a week after it's built

Getting evidence

Straightforward

First customer likely comes from

Post the calculation logic where your industry already talks, and offer the file

Why this is a good first test

It's small enough to finish in a weekend and real enough to prove something. If ten people pay for your spreadsheet, you've learned that your knowledge has a market — which is the finding you actually needed before starting something bigger.

What makes people buy

  • It answers one expensive question, not twenty vague ones.
  • The assumptions are written down, so a professional can defend the output to their client.
  • It looks like it was made by someone who does the job, because it was.

Limits

A one-off file is a test, not a business on its own. The people who buy it are the audience for the next thing — a course, a service, a tool — so keep in touch with them.

Would this work for you?

This page can't tell you that — it doesn't know your skills, time or budget. The direction assessment does, and it starts from this idea rather than a blank page.

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